Lantern slide storage case



Oct. 1, 1957 M. L. KERNEY LANTERN SLIDE STORAGE CASE Filed Sept. 7, 1955 Fig. 2 Fig./ 20

32d La Fig.3

08 M 1? BY 8 U I M rpm A 7' TORNE Y8 MYRO/V L. KER/V5) INVENTOR.

LANTERN SLIDE STORAGE CASE Myron L. Kerney, Rochester, N. Y., assignor to Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application September 7, 1955, Serial No. 532,908

2 Claims. (Cl. 206-1) This invention relates to a case for lantern slides and particularly to a means for storing lantern slides for projection in which groups of slides may be carried in separate containers.

In the past, lantern slides have generally been stored in cases or containers in one or more rows with a large number of lantern slides in each row. Sometimes individual spacers have been used but one of the difficulties of such a storage arrangement is that the accessibility of the slides depends largely upon the number of slides'in each row and perhaps the spacing of the partition plates. Another difficulty has been keeping the slides in the, required or desired sequence. It is also often desirable to provide a means for keeping selected slides in separate groups.

My present invention is particularly directed to overcoming these and other difiiculties and is directed to a storage case which will make the slides easier to handle since the slides are carried by relatively small rectangular boxes or containers having open tops through which the slides may be placed in and removed from these containers. It has been found that containers holding twenty slides is a very useful size although obviously containers for more or less slides may be used if desired.

' One object of my invention is to provide a case of the type described in which the slide containers may lie compactly in a case with the open ends of the containers all lying adjacent the inside of the box cover when the cover is closed. Another object of my invention is to provide a case in which the containers are automatically moved to a more accessible position as the box cover is moved from its covering position. A still further object of my invention is to provide a slide carrying case which may utilize small plastic containers such as are sometimes used in returning the slides from the processing station after exposure. Other objects will appear from the following specification, the novel features being particularly pointed out in the claims at the end thereof.

Coming now to the drawings wherein like reference characters denote like parts throughout:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a case adapted to carry slides in containers constructed in accordance with and embodying a preferred form of my invention, the parts being shown in a closed position;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view shown partially in section of the the slide carrying case shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view through the carrying case shown in Fig. 2 with the cover swung to an open position and with the slide containers moved to an accessible position for removal and projection;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 with the cover of the carrying case partially closed showing cams on the cover engaging the rearmost containers and starting to swing the containers upon their supporting surfaces to a storage position;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 with the cover completely closed showing the position of the containers in the storage case with the open tops of the containers adjacent the cover so as to prevent slides from moving materially during transportation; and

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section through a portion of a preferred form of container in which a slightly modified form of support for the containers is shown.

In the preferred form of my invention shown in the drawings, a carrying case is shown in which, when the case is closed, the slides are all held firmly in containers which rest on a series of protuberances or inclined slats extending across the bottom of the case. When the cover is open, however, each of the containers swings from its compact parallel position shown in Fig. 5 to an inclined position, Fig. 3, in which each container is accessible so that a container may be removed completely or slides may be removed from a container while it remains in the box. While not shown, the lantern slides are preferably just the length of the depth of the container so their top edges are flush with the open tops of the containers. Thus the containers and slides may contact with and be held in place by the closed cover of the case. Certain projectors are on the market in which rectangular con- 'tainers with open tops may be placed in the machine after being emptied and the slides will be returned to the container in the same order they are run through the machine so that the removable container feature is a useful one, particularly with the above-described type of projectors.

More specifically, the carrying case may consist of a The purpose of these inclined slat-like walls 14 is to I engage a portion which is off-center a material distance, as shown at 18 of containers 19. The containers may be made of lightweight plastic material such as polyethylene, and may hold a predetermined group of slides, such as perhaps twenty-five slides. By engaging the bottom walls in the offset position shown at 18, Fig. 3, the containers may tilt of their own weight into the position shown in this figure when the cover member 20 is moved to the open position shown in Fig. 1.

The cover member may be slidable or may be hinged at 30 in any known manner and while I prefer a hinge to be used, the box can readily be made to operate with a slidable cover. The cover member 21 has a top wall 22, a front wall 23 and a rear wall 24. This rear wall carries one or more cam members 25.

The purpose of these cam members is to engage and move the rearmost container members 19 when the cover is closed. As shown in Fig. 4, as the cover closes, the cam member 25 may engage a portion of the plastic container 19 and as the cover is closed, the containers are all automatically rocked to a parallel position, as shown in Fig. 5, with the open top of each container lying adjacent to the top wall 22 of the cover member.

Consequently, the top wall may form a complete closure for the top of each of the containers so that the slides will all remain in their containers even though the box is carried in any convenient position.

.In the first five figures, the transverse slat members 14- are shown as extending completely across the box, this also being true of the rear wall member 16 and the front wall abutment 17. However, these slat-like members, if desired, may be made conveniently of moldable material and instead of a single cam member 25 extending all the way across the top of the container, a plurality of thin cam members 50, as shown in Fig. 6, may extend I V 3 l outwardly from the top of the cover 20 to conserve material. The function in box cases is exactly the same.

Referring to Fig. 6, the slat-like members 14 may also be made of thin fiangedike material, as shown at 34, for the same reason. The material, ofcourse, is merely a matter of design and whether thepafts are made to extend completely across or in a series ofindividual parallel units is also aquestion of design. 7 a a M It will be noted with the carrying case above described that in the form shown in Fig. 2 the case may'carry 16 slide containers, each of which is adapted to hold a plurality of slides. These containers will be firmly held in the position shown in Fig. as long as the slide cover 29 is closed and since the top wall/22 of the top of the case liesacross the open tops of the containers 19, there is no danger of the slides becoming misplaced regardless of the way the case is being carried, When the top is swung about the hinge 30, the cam 25 moves away from the rearmost container 19 in each row so that the container sections will tilt to the position shown in Fig. 4 in which each container is readily accessible for removal as a whole or the slides may be individually removed from each container as they are usedand returned to the container in the usual manner. If, however, these containers are used with a projector especially designed for them, the containers may be readily removed, emptied and placed in the projector so that they may be shown in any desired sequence. V V

- The cover member 23 may be provided with any desirable type of snap latch member 31 such as the wellknown type having an aperture and which is adaptedfto snap over a pin 32 carried by the bottom section of the container. 7

While I have described a preferred form of my carrying Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A filing case adapted to receive lantern slides and including, in combination, a bottom member including a bottom wall, a front wall, a rear wall and side walls all extending up from the bottom Wall to form a box-like member, a plurality of inclined walls extending across case for slides, it is obvious that various changes can be 35 made without departing from the spirit of the invention and I contemplate as within the scope of my invention all such forms as may come within the scope of the appended claims,

the bottom wall, and an inclined wall lying inside the rear wall, a topmembe r carrying front, rear and side walls to form a box-like cover member hingedly attached along the rear wall to the bottom member to swing to and from a closed position, aplurality of box-like containers having front, back, side and bottom walls and an open top of a size to fit into'the hinged bottom and top members and rest on the inclined walls extending across the bottom wall, each container being adapted to receive a number of slides, said containers when the top member is swung to an openrposition being guided to lie on the inclined walls and the inclined wall lying inside the rear wall of the bottom member and into an accessible position, the cover member including cams positioned to engage and move the containers into a position in which the open tops of the containers lie adjacent the inside of the top wall of the cover whereby any slides positioned therein may be retained in the container section.

2. The filing case for receiving lantern slides defined in claim 1 characterized in that the front wall of the bottom wall includes an abutment adapted to engage and position containers when the cover is swung on its hinge to a closed position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,103,241 Bell Dec. 28, 1937 2,374,346 Ha'bif Apr. 24, 1945 2,430,707 calm Nov. 11, 1947 

